Will709432 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:25 pm
It's from Ali Baba och de fyrtio rövarna:
Ali baba levde på att hugga ved som han sålde i staden, men det var knappt han hade råd att ge sina sex barn mat.
[...]
I'm confused about why det var is used before knappt. Why not just say men han hade knappt råd...?
As [mention]Artemis[/mention] and [mention]Basler Biker[/mention] say, this is mostly a matter of style, but even though the sentence would be grammatically correct without it (as in your example), I wouldn't recommend it. As far as I understand this sentence, "det var" connects the content of the second clause with the overall situation, which is explained in the preceding clause. If you remove it, you lose important information. Basically, "det var" foregrounds the situation and causes Ali Baba to seem a bit more passive, more like a victim of the circumstances. Without it there is less emphasis on the connection between cause and effect, even though the cause is only implicit. In a way "det var" makes it possible to communicate this causal relation without explicitly mentioning it. Without "det var" you really need to add more explicit information:
"Ali Baba levde på att hugga ved som han sålde i staden, men konkurrensen var så hård och priserna så låga att han knappt hade råd att ge sina sex barn mat."
"Ali Baba levde på att hugga ved som han sålde i staden, men stadsborna var så snåla att han knappt hade råd att ge sina sex barn mat."
A few examples from the internet:
Advertising their services, Göteborg Energi quotes a customer:
Göteborg Energi wrote:Jag har alltid varit kund hos Göteborg Energi så det var en självklarhet att ringa er när jag tecknade elavtalet för Beets. Jag använder er även privat. Så det var knappt att jag valde - jag bara ringde.
"Det var" helps to emphasize the company's ability to attract the customer, rather than the customer's ability to make a choice.
http://runeberg.org/karriar/0008.html
runeberg.org wrote:Det var ju ett sådant väder så det var knappt att jag hann med tåget.
Weather as the active force, the speaker is supposedly not to be blamed for almost being late. In this case the message is so explicit that "det var" becomes redundant. "Det var ju ett sånt väder att jag knappt hann med tåget" is more or less identical in meaning.
http://regionbiblioteket.se/bloggen/page/16/
regionbiblioteket.se wrote:Dimman låg tjock över skärgården i morse, det var knappt vi kunde skönja några konturer.
Blame the weather, not poor eyesight.
I should probably mention that there are other reasons to use "det var," and my explanation is only applicable to a minority of the cases you would find if you search the internet.